Thank you, Minister. The motion is in order. To the principle of the bill.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? Any abstentions? The motion is carried.
---Carried
I will now call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of the committee? Mr. Norn.
Marsi cho, Mr. Chair. Committee wishes to consider Committee Report 9-19(2), Report on the Chief Electoral Officer's Report on the Administration of the 2019 Territorial General Election. Marsi cho, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. We will take a short recess and resume with the first item.
---SHORT RECESS
Committee, we have agreed to consider Committee Report 9-19(2), Report on the Chief Electoral Officer's Report on the Administration of the 2019 Territorial General Election. I will go to the chair of the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures for any opening comments. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. The Elections and Plebiscites Act requires the Chief Electoral Officer to present a report on the administration of the election within six months of the election. The report has any matters that the Chief Electoral Officer thinks should be brought to the Legislative Assembly's attention. It also includes recommendations on how to improve election administration and any suggested amendments to the act. This report was sent to the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures to hold hearings with the Chief Electoral Officer, any witnesses the committee thinks necessary, and the public at large. The committee then reports to the House which recommendations should be adopted and the committee's review of potential amendments.
The 2019 territorial election was held on October 1, 2019. Online ballots were available for the first time in any provincial or territorial general election in Canada. The election also saw the highest number of female candidates ever and resulted in a near equal number of female and male Members of the Legislative Assembly. The Chief Electoral Officer issued her report on the administration of the 2019 election in March 2020, which contained 88 recommendations for consideration. The committee held public briefings with the Chief Electoral Officer on June 10, 2020, with experts on online voting on June 30, 2020 and September 9, 2020, and a hearing with the public on September 21, 2020, during which the committee received presentations from MLA Julie Green, David Wasylciw and OpenNWT. This report included the committee's response to the Chief Electoral Officer's recommendations, to the public submissions received, and to the recommendations of two expert witnesses, Dr. Goodman and Dr. Essex.
I would like to once again thank those that made submissions to the committee and my colleagues who served on the committee with me, as well. Other Members may wish to further speak to the report. Mahsi, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I will now open the floor to general comments on Committee Report 9-19(2), Report on the Chief Electoral Officer's Report on the Administration of the 2019 Territorial General Election. Do any Members have general comments? Seeing no comments, Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Now, I'll go through a series of motions which are the recommendations from the report itself.
Mr. Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Elections and Plebiscites Act be amended to require regulations be developed governing voting by electronic means, including setting cyber security standards, technical specifications, procurement guidelines, and an audit mechanism. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Member. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. O'Reilly.
Mr. Chair, just very briefly, the committee heard from two expert witnesses. Dr. Essex is from Western University and Dr. Nicole Goodman is at Brock University. They've been watching online voting in Ontario for the most part, and it's been used at the municipal level there for several years. They've also been watching how online voting has been used in other parts of the world, and they actually worked together on a paper, although they don't always agree on everything. It was a very helpful paper, and they've suggested a number of principles that should be adopted in terms of online voting. Those include secrecy, equality, accessibility, fairness, dependability, accuracy, correctness, confidence, and transparency. Committee felt that we should really try to make sure that voters have complete confidence in electronic voting, and that we do need to develop some standards and specifications for how this should be done in the future. The best way to do this is through some regulations, so that's what this recommendation is all about. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. To the motion. Member for Thebacha.
Thank you. I just want to make sure that we still have the option of voting by ballot. Is that going to be taken into consideration in this recommendation?
Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Certainly, that was one of the issues that committee did consider. Committee was of the view that we always want to have in-person, paper ballots available for future elections. Certainly, for elders, seniors, that is what people are used to, and we don't want to take that opportunity away. There is nothing in this recommendation that requires electronic voting, but if there is electronic voting, we need to make sure that we have some clear guidance on how that will be done in the future. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? Opposed? Abstentions? The motion is carried.
---Carried
Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that Elections NWT implement and administer an election rebate program as laid out in the report for candidates starting with the 2023 territorial election. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. O'Reilly.
Mr. Chair, I want to give MLA Green a lot of credit. She chaired in, at the last Assembly, a special committee on increasing the representation in women. One of the recommendations that they brought forward was that some consideration be given to a rebate program to sort of lower the barriers for women in particular getting into politics. Committee accepted a further presentation from Ms. Green on this topic, and we were happy to put forward the rebate program that she has recommended. I'll just list the criteria for that very quickly for members of the public and to refresh Members' memories about this.
Fifty percent of eligible expenses to a maximum rebate of $3,000 per candidate;
Candidate must receive a minimum of 5 percent of votes cast in that electoral district;
Candidate's official agent must file their complete financial paperwork by the deadline;
Acclaimed candidates would also be eligible for a rebate;
Only cash expenses incurred by the candidate that are not offset by fundraising would be eligible;
Committee recommends that alcohol and cannabis be excluded as eligible expenses; and
The Chief Electoral Officer would also report on any rebate costs as part of the report on the conduct of the election.
That is what this is all about. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Ms. Green.
Thank you, I appreciate the committee taking up this recommendation. It was a piece of unfinished business from the Special Committee to Increase Representation of Women in the Legislative Assembly, which was in the 18th Assembly. The idea is that this rebate would apply equally to men and women. It would lower the barrier of financial cost, the cost of being in an election, as a reason not to run and widen the pool of candidates who would be able to run. The total cost is very affordable, it's just over $55,000 based on the 2019 election, and yet, it would open the doors to additional people considering entering elected politics. I am appreciative of the committee's work on this report and for bringing this motion forward. Thank you.
Thank you. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? Opposed? Abstentions? The motion is carried.
---Carried
Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that "email address" be included under section 54(2) of the Elections and Plebiscite Act; and further, that email addresses should only be used to maintain or update the register of electors and not be shared with any candidate. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? Opposed? Abstentions? The motion is carried.
---Carried
Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Elections and Plebiscites Act be amended to require a public body at request to provide the personal information held by that body. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. The motion is in order. To the motion? Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Just very quickly, the way the Elections Act reads now, there are some individuals who have information, say the Director of Medical Insurance, deputy minister responsible for student financial assistance, deputy minister of Justice, and they're named in the legislation. The Chief Electoral Officer recommended that there would also be additional information in the motor vehicle registry that would be very helpful in keeping our voters lists up to date. We are proposing some more general language so that the Chief Electoral Officer can acquire that data, with appropriate controls and consideration of privacy, to make sure that we have the best available voters lists for future elections. That's what this recommendation is about. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. To the motion?
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? Opposed? Abstentions? The motion is carried.
---Carried
Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that Section 73 of the Elections and Plebiscites Act be amended to state that the list of electors shall be provided to candidates as soon as possible. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. The motion is in order. To the motion?
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? Opposed? Abstentions? The motion is carried.
---Carried
Mr. O'Reilly.
